Around 1993, I was stationed at a base in Germany that was under a closure plan. My boss....a Major....came up and offered this amazing deal. For $120....I could get what was practically a new satellite dish/receiver unit and a car.
The Major's car was referred to in the shop as the 'beast'.
So he'd arrived about 15 months prior, and gotten this great apartment near the base, and the landlord asked if he needed car. He drove the Major over to this farmhouse, and showed the 'beast'. It came with a legendary story.
It was a complete deluxe Mercedes 450 executive car....fully loaded....leather seats....from 1978.
So, the car was originally his dad's car. Two years into ownership....dad had some heart attack in some pub. The car was driven back to the house, but his mother was a non-driver. So it sat there in the yard for about a year.
Eventually, the landlord moved it to a barn, and there it sat until 1992. No prep....no wash of road-salt accumulation. Driver's side (front/rear)....affected by rust.
The two threw in a new battery and spark plugs....car cranked up, and the Major bought it 500 DMs ($250). Body-wise? It was in rough shape and should have failed the vehicle test (the Major talked the inspector into missing the problems). I doubt that it had more than 50,000 km on it. Interior? Absolutely perfect.
So I bought the satellite/receiver unit and the car....for $120.
For about a year, I was extremely proud of the 'beast'. I bought a new panel/fender to replace the rusted ones, and the inspection guy had no issues. Yeah, it was a V8 and burned a ton of gas weekly. It was a car made for the autobahn.
Somewhere around the 18th month...the axel broke. I thought I could find a mechanic who'd take it on as a project.....but they were all just saying to give it up.
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